The Last Kiss
by SALJStella
Summary: Sparrabeth one-shot. At the end of AWE, Jack lets Elizabeth kiss him. Things don't really change, and they don't really get better, but in some way, that last kiss still answers some of the questions they've left unanswered for so long.


**A/N: I know ****what you're going to say: Short and pointless. And you're right, but this was unavoidable. That damn plot bunny was keeping me up at night… Anyway, enjoy! **

**The Last Kiss**

It was awful, really.

I was going to lose the two most important men in my life on the same day.

Okay, well, I was going to see Will once every decade. And every time I wound up on the Black Pearl I thought it was going to be the last time, but now, I knew it was true. I could really feel it, like a little sting in my heart.

Of sorrow.

Because I was not going to miss the Pearl.

But I was going to miss her captain.

Now, I'd walked up to him. Jack. He gave me a look I couldn't read. And neither could I stop the tears from welling up in my eyes.

"Jack…" I began.

Now I could read him again. In a weird way, his eyes got so warm, and I could tell he knew what I was thinking:

_I want to talk to you. _

He probably felt it, too. The last-time-feeling. And the last time he saw me, I wanted to talk to him without having the whole crew gawking at me.

"Back to your stations!" Jack shouted to the line of pirates.

They spread over the ship as they mumbled discretely.

"Jack," I repeated, my voice shaking with tears as I tried to sound like I was joking. "It never would've worked between us."

Now he smiled. Finally. That crooked smile that I was going to miss so badly.

"Keep telling yourself that, darling."

I smiled sadly. Then I leaned forward, but he pulled back.

"That one time was quite enough."

And then, that sting in my heart got a little deeper. I don't know why, but it did.

"I promise I won't kill you this time," I said.

Jack chuckled.

"Then I think we should get married."

I smiled back at him, but the smile faded away when he approached my mouth. And kissed me.

And this time, I wasn't in a complete misery because I knew he was going to die soon.

It started like a barely-more-than-a-friends-kiss, and I didn't plan it to be more than that, but before I got a chance to regain control, my arms had wrapped themselves around his neck, and his tongue gently parted my lips and a jolt of delight shot through me as I felt his taste of rum and sea and freedom, and for the first time in my life I felt pure desire. His moustache tickled my upper lip and I explored his mouth with my tongue and all the friendship that had every been between us floated away and was replaced with... Something else. Maybe passion.

Then he pulled back. I didn't let go of his neck. He looked deep into my eyes with his warm ones, and… Could I see sadness in his eyes?

"I…" He started.

I just looked at him. I knew what he was about to say, and I wanted and feared him to say it at the same time. It would make it so much harder for me to leave, but… Maybe I didn't have to leave.

"I…" He repeated, but stopped talking abruptly.

I smiled.

"You really can't say it, can you?"

Jack smiled, too, a little more bitterly than me, and shook his head.

"No. But… I do. You know, I do… That."

I nodded slowly, and I couldn't stop tears from flowing down my face. Every trace of a smile was gone.

"Jack…" I whispered. "I love Will, but… There were other ways to chain you to that mast. I kissed you because I thought that would've happened sooner or later either way, but maybe I could have picked a better time…"

Jack nodded, too. Then he drew his thumbs under my eyes to wipe away at least _some _of the tears.

"Every king needs his queen, Lizzie," he whispered. "Come to me when you're sick of waiting for the eunuch."

I smiled, even though I'd never felt worse before in my life. And I wanted to say that I wanted to wait here, with him, and every tenth years I would go back to the man that I suddenly was very uncertain that I loved as much as I said I did, but during the rest of the time I would stand here, on the Pearl's deck, with my arms wrapped around his neck and the taste of rum and sea and freedom resting in my mouth from our last kiss. But all I said was a quote from Will, that he'd said when he was still alive and I was so convinced that I would never love someone else:

"Keep a weather eye on the horizon."

He smiled slightly, even though I could swear that I saw something glisten in his eyes before he lowered them to the deck.

"You too. Someday, I might come and kidnap you. Or you can come here by yourself, since you're always welcome on the Pearl, my little pirate lass."

I can't believe how I managed to let go of him after that. But I did, anyway, and I even managed to get into the dinghy that rocked back and forth in the air next to me.

If I knew what I left behind me that day, I never would have gone.

**Man, that's short! Not even that good. Believe me, I've written better stuff, and feel free to check them out. Until then, all the best! And review! **


End file.
